Heroes: How Russia Commemorates Its Fallen Soldiers in Syria

Editor’s note: This is the Russia that VT stands by, our “comrades in arms” and why we are targeted by Google and Facebook and the Trump administration. Judge us by our enemies.

Dramatic footage showing Major Roman Filipov, whose Su-25 fighter jet was shot down over Idlib, detonating a grenade and taking his own life when surrounded by armed terrorists, has broken people’s hearts

Filipov, who was posthumously conferred a hero title, is not the first Russian serviceman to have shown extraordinary courage in Syria. Here’s how Russia commemorates its brave soldiers who have died during the military campaign.

‘This Is For Our Boys!’

On February 3, the Russian Su-25 fighter jet piloted by Major Filipov was downed by a man-portable air defense system (MANPAD) operated by terrorists during an overflight of Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone.

The 34-year-old Filipov managed to bail out, landing in an area controlled by Tahrir al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra). As militants approached him, the pilot engaged in a firefight, and knowing what his chances were, he set off a grenade shouting “This is for our boys!”

The Russian Defense Ministry has posthumously awarded Filipov with the Hero of the Russian Federation medal. Over 300,000 people attended the funeral of the man in his home city of Voronezh, including his family, colleagues, former classmates and leadership of the Defense Ministry.

‘A Stab In The Back’

The downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber by a Turkish F-16 fighter jet over Syria on November 24, 2015 drastically undermined relations between Moscow and Ankara. The pilots of the Russian aircraft, which fell some two miles from the Turkish border, managed to eject, but one of them, Oleg Peshkov, was killed on the ground by local militants backed by Turkey.

While Ankara claimed the plane had violated Turkish airspace and had not responded to warnings, Moscow insisted that the jet stayed in the Syrian airspace. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin did not hesitate to call the incident “a stab in the back,” after his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to apologize. In June 2016, Erdogan apologized for the attack in a written statement, which led to an improvement of bilateral relations.

Funeral of pilot Oleg Peshkov killed in Syria

Turkish ultranationalist Alparslan Celik claimed responsibility for the murder of Oleg Peshkov, but after the arrest he testified that he had not been involved in the pilot’s killing, he had ordered his associates not to shoot at Peshkov when he bailed out. Celik was sentenced to five years in prison… for illegal possession of weapons.

A monument to Lieutenant Colonel Peshkov, who was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation, was installed in his hometown Lipetsk, as well as a memorial plaque that was unveiled at the Yekaterinburg Suvorov Cadet School.

‘Russian Rambo’

On March 17, 2016, a Russian officer, Senior Lieutenant Alexander Prokhorenko, who was carrying out a reconnaissance mission locating targets for the Russian Air Force in Syria’s Palmyra, encircled by Daesh, was killed calling an airstrike on himself after his position had been compromised was surrounded by terrorists.

For this exceptionally courageous deed he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. Palmyra’s liberation by the Syrian Army, supported by the Russian Air Force, two weeks after the incident, proved that his death was not in vain.

Servicemen and ordinary people around the world praised the feat of Prokhorenko, calling him the “Russian Rambo.” A street in the Russian town Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad region, a park in Orenburg and a school in his home village Gorodki in the Orenburg region were named after Prokhorenko.

In August 2017, a monument honoring the officer was unveiled in the Italian town Vagli Scotto, with the mayor Marco Puglia saying that Prokhorenko died with dignity.

Gordon Duff is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. He is a disabled veteran and has worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.

Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world's largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.

Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than "several" countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.

16 COMMENTS

Mr. Duff. Allow me to use this opportunity to bring to your attention a piece of Anime called “Black Lagoon”. It is a violent series, but embedded in it are bits and pieces of actual intel. Most interesting is the character of Ms Bella Leica, a former Captain bloodied in Afghanistan. The heros are the crew of the Lagoon, a WWII era Alco class PT boat, captained by a former Marine now doing transportation jobs for various criminal gangs ruling the fictional city of Roanapor. The last part of the series, “Roberta’s Blood Trail” includes Venezuelan terrorism by US based military units. All in all, it may be something you may want to look into for it’s unique insight going all the way back to Vietnam. Enjoy the Yellow Flag bar.

God bless every soldier that sacrificed his life for Justice and Freedom.
I have an endless respect for those soldiers who chose to die on their feet and I curse those politicians who live on their knees.
HOW MANY of our politicians can we say are not living on their knees? 5-10? What a shame.

Read the hit piece on Putin this morning in the NY Post allegedly by
Ralph Peters. Here is the title: “ Putin had to approve Russian attack on US troops”
By Ralph Peters
February 13, 2018 | 9:02pm | Updated
I didn’t want to post the link as a stand alone but I sent it to Jim. It is right on the front page of the web site along with the article about Trump’s lawyer Cohen paying $130K out of his personal funds to porn star Stormy for her silence about hanky panky in the bedroom with Trump. Quote from Wikipedia on Peters:
“Ralph Peters (born April 19, 1952) is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel and author.” He is a shill for our corrupt military and supported the corrupt Iraq war.

From the day that JFK was shot and the news stated that an American defector to Russia has killed him, I { at 12yrs young} was programmed to hate Russians and believe everything the government news – reported. And it only subsided in the 90s when the CCCP fell but not for long – because today the demonizing is even worse. It’s all about Pentagon money, propaganda to keep the Americans from knowing the Russian people { divide and conquer} and keeping the American public from knowing the truth about how manipulated they have been. I’ve lived long enough and traveled enough in Russia to understand who these people are – Nothing I say to my X American friends about the truth matters – they are inside the Programmed box and will never escape – as long as they keep listening to the same shit – day in day out. spacibo Mr. Duff and I tell-show my veteran friends your website.

A moment of silence to reflect on the sacrifice made by Russians in Syria. At least from the Russian side this war is not being fought for corporate greed. It is a noble fight. 300,000 turn out for a pilots funeral should be enough to show the entire world who is in the right in Syria.
I agree with David Odell. Better prices? Every time I stop to gas my car I look up at the price board, and wonder if the American people would remain silent if they knew what big oil is really paying for a barrel. Costs go down, but retail prices climb.

In 2011, You could by a gallon ov gas for a US dollar. When zi asked a high official at the ministry of petroleum, who had traveled to the US, why is gasoline is so much less then what we pay in the US. He said we have no refineries and we buy our gasoline on the spot market like everyone else. So why is our gas so expensive? He said: ask your government why it has so much taxes on gasoline?

The people running America seem to be so ignorant they think the current Russia is the same as the former Soviet Union. I never in my life thought I would have more respect for a Russian government than my own. The U.S. is a shameful disgrace, lying to citizens, illegally in Syria, killing innocent civilians and children in Afghanistan and on and on and on. The lunatics in Congress are spending borrowed and printed money like it was going out of style. They want to defy the lessons of history. If they do not control spending and drastically cut the military nonsense, this insanity will automatically bring the country down,. All secret service protection and secretarial help must be removed for all former presidents to save money. Close all these ridiculous bases all over the planet too.

The people running the U.S. government seem to think the WWIII they hope for has already begun. They seek to spend massive amounts of borrowed and printed dollars which , if not stopped, will certainly take the country down. All money for Israel should be stopped too.

Thank you Gordon for making a clear stand on heroism for a Nation that is an enemy of “your” American Government. To honor any true hero is as necessary as to jail or penalize a war criminal and murderer. May truth come crashing down on the few “innocent” American military personnel that object the brass loaded criminals ordering new war crimes on other Nations on a daily basis. May they have the strength to “swap” sites and fight for justice at home instead of bringing havoc to other Nations that have never been their enemies.

The entire world is sick and tired of stupid wars for corporate idiots. US veterans need to get woke.
We can no longer afford to be mercenaries for British and Israeli interests.
Putin speaks truth when he says, “US policy does not change, no matter who is president”
What does that tell us ? Foreign influence. and NO It isn’t Russia DUMBASS !
Russia is not trying to conquer the Middle East. Can we say the same ?
We started swapping out jungle cammo for desert cammo in the 80’s,… What are we doing ?
This isn’t rocket science. Rocket sales more likely. I didn’t serve so we could get better prices. Bastards !
As if that trickle down bullcrap should work the fifth time,… aaarrgghh!

DO… as you know, corporation’s production is driven by debt servicing. Now that interest has been increased corporations must squeeze its workers and governments their citizens through taxes. War makes a great return on investment. We must kill the Bank. Every analysis comes down to it. We must kill the Bank or we and our children die. Usury is the source of all evil.

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